Hinged road mat



March 18, 1947.

v HINGE!) Rom MAT Filed April 7, v1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l w. WHITE 2,417,578

W. E. WHITE HINGED ROAD MAT M cus, 1947.

Filed April 7, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 18, 1947 HINGED ROAD MAT William E. White, Bethlehem, Pa., assignor to Bethlehem Steel Company,

Pennsylvania a corporation of Application April 7, 1945, Serial No. 58%,055

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a reinforcing mat for concrete roadways which is hinged so that the parts may be folded upon each other.

One of the objects of this invention is to make a road mat which will require less shipping space thus permitting shipment where clearance problems would prohibit the delivery of mats of rigid construction for full roadway widths.

Another object of this invention is to provide a road mat which may be delivered in a compact form and yetrwhen placed in position in the roadway and opened up for use requires no a dditional fastening means tohold the parts in position.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a road mat which, when the various members composing the mat are assembled and fastened in place, can be folded for shipment and upon arrival at the roadway site opened up for use without any difficult assembly, and yet will have no tendency for the parts "to become accidentally unhooked or disconnected during the pouring of the concrete slab.

These and other objects are attained by means of a structure which is simple of manufacture and which requires no additional material to' provide the hinged joint.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a road mat with a hinge that permits the halves of the mat to be folded upon each other.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged view of one of the transverse rod ends forming one of the hinge elements.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 in which the transverse rods from both halves of the mat form hinge elements.

Figure 4 is a section through the pivotal axis of the hinge.

Referring to the drawings more in detaiL, Ill and I l are the units or leaves comprising the mat, It! being comprised of the longitudinal rods l2 and the transverse rods l3 while II is comprised of the longitudinal rods I2 and I4 and the transverse rods it). The rods may be fastened at their intersections by means of clips IE or by welding, either method being well known in manufacturing reticular structures for reinforcing purposes. In Figure 1, the rods I5 are shown with straight ends and extend somewhat beyond the longitudinal rod M which serves as the pivotal axis of the hinge. After the unit II has been assembled the rods l2 are placed in proper position and the rods l3, each of which has a spiral end I! of a pig-tail nature which hooks over or under the pivotal axis, are placed in position; This is accomplished by starting with the rod in an iriclined position as indicated by dotted lines, entering the pivotal axis rod into the pitch opening of the spiral and swinging the rod I3 into its final position at right angles to the axis, so that the diameter of the pig-tail registers with the diameter of the pivotal rod. When the rods l3 are fastened to the rods l2 at their various intersections they cannot be disengaged from the axis rod due to the peculiar shape of the spiral ends, but rotarymotion is possible about the rod l4 thus permitting unit l0 to be folded'over upon unit I l.

In Figure 2, one of the hinge elements is shown indicating more clearly the type of spiral ends I! on the rods l3. This spiral'end consists of one turn of the rod, the spiral having a pitch of somewhat greater magnitude than the diameter of the axis rod M to permit the assembly of the hinge element. A suitable type of clip It for fastening rod I5 in place is also indicated, it should, however, be noted that a weld may be used for this fastening instead of a clip. Figure 3 shows a modification of the hinge element in which spiral hooks I! are used on the ends of the transverse rods of both units, the rods l3, similar to rods l3, replacing rods l5.

While I have shown my invention in but two forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus descjribed my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: p

1. A hinged reinforcing mat comprising two reticular units each comprised by a series of rods attached to each other, a plurality of rods of one unit each terminating in a helix turned at right angles to the rod to form a hinge when combined with a rod of the other unit to serve as an axis capable of permitting a relative substantial folding movement between the two units.

2. A hinged reinforcing mat comprising two series of rods placed at an angle to each other to form a reticular structure, the continuity of the first series of rods being broken near one of the second series of rods and the ends of certain rods of the first series having a helical loop of approximately 360 turned on the end of each at right angles to the rod, said loop encircling said longitudinal rod and thereby forming a line of hinges whereby one portion of the mat may be folded back upon the other portion, the relative movement being approximately 180.

3. A road reinforcing mat in which each unit comprises two series of rods; attached at right angles to; form a reticular structure, and having the units hinged together, the hinge being formed by a rod of one unit serving as a pivotal axis, and means constituting the body of the hinge being formed by terminal ends of rods of the other unit, said terminal ends each. being bent in a helical turn at right angles to'the rod of which it forms the terminus, the inside diameter of the turn permitting free turning on said pivotal rod and the pitch of the helix being slightly greater than the diameter of the pivotal rod.

4. A mat for roadway reinforcement comprising two units, each comprising two series of rods attached: to eachother. atright angles, said units being hinged together. so that there may be a 130 relative movement, the hinge action being accomplished by means of, an axis formed by a rod of one unit and a hook end on a rod of the other unit, said hook end consisting of approximately a 360 spiral turn atright angles to the rod of which it forms the terminus and with an inside diameter permitting free turning movement upon said axis rod, and the pitch. of the spiral slightly greater than its inside diameter.

5. A hinged reinforcing mat in which each of the two units comprising same is made up of two series of rods attached at right angles to form a reticular structure, and having the units hinged together, the hinge being formed by a rod of one unit serving as a pivotal axis, about which spiral ends turned at right angles to form the adjacent termini ofthe rods of the other unit are placed so that there may be a relative movement of 180 between the two units, but, from which axis rod the spiral ends may not become disengaged except by removing the fastening means which hold the rods in right angled position in the structure.

6. The method of making a reinforcing mat from a plurality of units, one of which is provided with a pivot member, comprising the steps of assembling a, series of rods in hinged relation to said pivot member by placing separated rods on the pivot member rotating the rods about their respective longitudinal axes, rotating the rods about a point on the pivot member in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the pivot member and then lockingthe rods together in hinged relation by/meansof cross rods.

7. The method' of making a reinforcing mat from a plurality of units, one of which is provided with a pivot member and rods of an adjacent unit having right angled helical loops, comprising the steps of assembling the series of rods having loops at theirrespective ends in hinged relation to said pivot member by separately placing the helical loops-of said rods angularly over the pivot member rotating the rods through an arc until they are brought to a stop in hinged relation to said pivot member and then looking the rods together in the hinged position by'means of cross rods.

WILLIAM E. WHITE.

REFERENCES CITED ihe following references. are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 377,478 Bement Feb. 7, 1888 926,004 Keller June 22, 1909 2313,211 Aldrich Mar. 9, 1943 2,361,164 Arthur Oct. 24, 1944 1,610,996 Bruckshaw Dec. 14, 1926 

